Drop/Massdrop gone Bezos

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

I just saw a sponsored ad for a Drop/Massdrop exclusive knife on brazilianjungleonfire.com. A few of their older exclusive models (Gent Select, Falcon, Terzuola Compact, Tashi Prism) are available with 1- or 2-day “members” shipping for a bit more than they sell for direct from Drop. Price deltas are a little weird: Gent Select is $10 more, but Prism is $50 more (20% hike).

Given where they started, this seems like a massive shift in their business model. Selling their exclusives through a third party (particularly this one) pushes them further toward the “producer” role than the “retailer” one they’d originally staked out. Of course, Given the pricing, it may just be a strategy to advertize their stuff and drive people who look for the best price to their site.

 

[K.O.D.]

Hmm. I wonder if this is a business/people trying to flip the "exclusives" at a higher price...

Especially since quantity is limited.

 

[OrangeBlueOrangeBlue]

Hmm. I wonder if this is a business/people trying to flip the "exclusives" at a higher price...

Especially since quantity is limited.

It was a sponsored product placement, and the product page itself looked like something Drop would do. I’d be surprised if anyone could make enough money flipping a limited number of knives to justify the cost of a paid placement.

 

[Stumpy72]

I think the Drop is dropping the ball this year. Last year they had 2 or 3 winners (at least IMO). The Gent and Keen were definite winners and the Buc was arguably a winner. This year they haven’t come up with anything that was of any interest to me. I suspect their knife sales are dropping off and this move may be an attempt to offset that trend. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw more moves like this from them.

 

[Hackenslash]

It might be a way for Drop to get their knives into markets that they can’t legally ship to?